I was a former senior manager at KPMG and since 1994 the owner of the Marks Group PC, a 10 person customer relationship management consulting firm based outside Philadelphia. I've written six small-business management books, most recently "The Manufacturer's Book of List" and “In God We Trust, Everyone Else Pays Cash: Simple Lessons From Smart Business People.” Besides Forbes, I daily for The Washington Post and weekly for Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine and the Huffington Post monthly for Philadelphia Magazine. I am an unpaid contributor to Forbes. I make no compensation from the number of people who read what I write here. Follow me on Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In.

12/12/2011 @ 7:25AM780,148 views

If I Were A Poor Black Kid

President Obama gave an excellent speech last week in Kansas about inequality in America.

“This is the defining issue of our time.” He said. “This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. Because what’s at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement.”

He’s right. The spread between rich and poor has gotten wider over the decades. And the opportunities for the 99% have become harder to realize.

The President’s speech got me thinking. My kids are no smarter than similar kids their age from the inner city. My kids have it much easier than their counterparts from West Philadelphia. The world is not fair to those kids mainly because they had the misfortune of being born two miles away into a more difficult part of the world and with a skin color that makes realizing the opportunities that the President spoke about that much harder. This is a fact. In 2011.

I am not a poor black kid. I am a middle aged white guy who comes from a middle class white background. So life was easier for me. But that doesn’t mean that the prospects are impossible for those kids from the inner city. It doesn’t mean that there are no opportunities for them. Or that the 1% control the world and the rest of us have to fight over the scraps left behind. I don’t believe that. I believe that everyone in this country has a chance to succeed. Still. In 2011. Even a poor black kid in West Philadelphia.

It takes brains. It takes hard work. It takes a little luck. And a little help from others. It takes the ability and the know-how to use the resources that are available. Like technology. As a person who sells and has worked with technology all my life I also know this.

If I was a poor black kid I would first and most importantly work to make sure I got the best grades possible. I would make it my #1 priority to be able to read sufficiently. I wouldn’t care if I was a student at the worst public middle school in the worst inner city. Even the worst have their best. And the very best students, even at the worst schools, have more opportunities. Getting good grades is the key to having more options. With good grades you can choose different, better paths. If you do poorly in school, particularly in a lousy school, you’re severely limiting the limited opportunities you have.

And I would use the technology available to me as a student. I know a few school teachers and they tell me that many inner city parents usually have or can afford cheap computers and internet service nowadays. That because (and sadly) it’s oftentimes a necessary thing to keep their kids safe at home than on the streets. And libraries and schools have computers available too. Computers can be purchased cheaply at outlets like TigerDirect and Dell’s Outlet. Professional organizations like accountants and architects often offer used computers from their members, sometimes at no cost at all.

If I was a poor black kid I’d use the free technology available to help me study. I’d become expert at Google Scholar. I’d visit study sites like SparkNotes and CliffsNotes to help me understand books. I’d watch relevant teachings on Academic Earth, TED and the Khan Academy. (I say relevant because some of these lectures may not be related to my work or too advanced for my age. But there are plenty of videos on these sites that are suitable to my studies and would help me stand out.) I would also, when possible, get my books for free at Project Gutenberg and learn how to do research at the CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia to help me with my studies.

Is this easy? No it’s not. It’s hard. It takes a special kind of kid to succeed. And to succeed even with these tools is much harder for a black kid from West Philadelphia than a white kid from the suburbs. But it’s not impossible. The tools are there. The technology is there. And the opportunities there.

In Philadelphia, there are nationally recognized magnet schools like Central, Girls High and Masterman. These schools are free. But they are hard to get in to. You need good grades and good test scores. And there are also other good magnet and charter schools in the city. You also need good grades to get into those. In a school system that is so broken these are bright spots. Getting into one of these schools opens up a world of opportunities. More than 90% of the kids that go to Central go on to college. I would use the internet to research each one of these schools so I could find out how I could be admitted. I would find out the names of the admissions people and go to meet with them. If I was a poor black kid I would make it my goal to get into one of these schools.

Or even a private school. Most private schools I know are filled to the brim with the 1%. That’s because these schools are exclusive and expensive, costing anywhere between $20 and $50k per year. But there’s a secret about them. Most have scholarship programs. Most have boards of trustees that want to give opportunities to kids that can’t afford the tuition. Many would provide funding for not only tuition but also for transportation or even boarding. Trust me, they want to show diversity. They want to show smiling, smart kids of many different colors and races on their fundraising brochures. If I was a poor black kid I’d be using technology to research these schools on the internet, too, and making them know that I exist and that I get good grades and want to go to their school.

And once admitted to one of these schools the first person I’d introduce myself to would be the school’s guidance counselor. This is the person who will one day help me go to a college. This is the person who knows everything there is to know about financial aid, grants, minority programs and the like. This is the person who may also know of job programs and co-op learning opportunities that I could participate in. This is the person who could help me get summer employment at a law firm or a business owned by the 1% where I could meet people and show off my stuff.

If I was a poor black kid I would get technical. I would learn software. I would learn how to write code. I would seek out courses in my high school that teaches these skills or figure out where to learn more online. I would study on my own. I would make sure my writing and communication skills stay polished.

Because a poor black kid who gets good grades, has a part time job and becomes proficient with a technical skill will go to college. There is financial aid available. There are programs available. And no matter what he or she majors in that person will have opportunities. They will find jobs in a country of business owners like me who are starved for smart, skilled people. They will succeed.

President Obama was right in his speech last week. The division between rich and poor is a national problem. But the biggest challenge we face isn’t inequality. It’s ignorance. So many kids from West Philadelphia don’t even know these opportunities exist for them. Many come from single-parent families whose mom or dad (or in many cases their grand mom) is working two jobs to survive and are just (understandably) too plain tired to do anything else in the few short hours they’re home. Many have teachers who are overburdened and too stressed to find the time to help every kid that needs it. Many of these kids don’t have the brains to figure this out themselves – like my kids. Except that my kids are just lucky enough to have parents and a well-funded school system around to push them in the right direction.

Technology can help these kids. But only if the kids want to be helped. Yes, there is much inequality. But the opportunity is still there in this country for those that are smart enough to go for it.

Editor’s note — This post has generated an enormous amount of feedback here on Forbes and across the web. Here are a few of those responses:

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Mr. Marks, I just read your article and although I agree that opportunities exist for poor black kids to be successful, I don’t agree with the way you made it seem as though ignorance of opportunity is the reason they are unsuccessful. I was this poor black kid you speak of, and I am successful. At age 26, I have exceeded most expectations I had for myself. I studied hard, I made good grades, I googled everything I didn’t know, I went to college, and I am now successful. Just as you said in your article. Yet, I have six good friends, who like me, are poor black kids who did the exact same thing. They followed this exact recipe for success, yet they are still in search of jobs. They don’t lack drive, they aren’t ignorant. Yet, why aren’t they successful like you said they would be. Well, I’ll tell you why. This is due to inequality in our world and the fact that most people who aren’t minorities will ever understand that it takes not only these things you speak of to be successful, but also diversity laws inacted by the government in certain circumstances or some other form of good fortune to be successful. Unlike you, we didn’t know anyone to give us reccomendations for jobs. And honestly Mr. Marks, if it had not have been for diversity in the workplace laws, I wouldnt have the job I have right now. Everyone at my current place of employment wondered how i got here when i first arrived. Before I even spoke a word, they already had this preconceived opinion of me. So tell me, if i had to interview with these people for the job, i was doomed from the start. Even though i studied, made good grades, and all the rest you speak of. So its not about ignorance of opportunity that hold that poor black kid you speak of back. IT IS THE WORLD’S PERCEPTION OF THAT POOR BLACK KID THAT HOLDS HIM BACK!!

Telling black people what they already knew..wow. Now lets flip it ….White people should quit spending America’s money try to get other people to think like them. White people should pay back the people they raped dry before they say something about what help they need in the first place. White people should right there wrongs first. The story does not say what a non lucky child should do just get crushed in the gears of Earth? What you thinking is true-ish but we know that …smh even the playing field , stop jail states …take jails off the stock market

A few questions: what qualifies you to offer this advice? Have you previously worked or lived in an inner city neighborhood? Have you reviewed data and research on existing barriers to educational opportunity? In what ways do food access, safety, violence, drug activity at the neighborhood level, the built environment, transportation access, racial profiling by authority figures, mental health, health insurance status, social capital, parental education, class, race, body weight, social desirability, inner city social norms, and teenage employment complicate the underlying problems you speak of? What indicators do you have that technology, good grades, and guidance counselors are the key resources for upward mobility in inner city neighborhoods? Is your advice consistent with experts and their field research? Are you being proactive with your advice and reaching out to “poor black kids” in West Philadelphia?

This is nothing more than spaghetti on the wall and it certainly did not stick, sir. It very much seems as if you “winged it” and decided to offer some pie in the sky advice. I commend you for the effort, but your tone, delivery, and cultural disconnect is terribly insulting. Seriously, the title alone is cause for concern.

In the future, please let your opinions of other cultures be informed by direct interaction, qualitative research, and field experts as opposed to your own subjective experiences. Because, at the end of the day, you will remain a privileged white man and continue to see the world through a lens mired with your own experiences.

Gene- Why don’t you go into West Philly and find a kid that you could shadow for week. Live in his world, see what he faces daily. Then come back and write an article about it. Wonder if it will be the same outcome… doubt it.

Mr. Marks, if I was a well to do middle aged White guy working for Forbes, it would be easy to sit down and pull together a list of research outlets an other resources that might help to make a poor Black kid a success. Being poor brings with it a host of other issues that you have not considered. Being a Black child in this country and being poor, you cannot even begin to fathom what it’s like. The world should be as simple as your simple minded essay. Try living in a neighborhood where you worry about surviving day by day – and I mean dodging bullets and other evils. Try having nothing to eat and trying to stay focused. Try living in conditions not worthy of an animal. I don’t think any child is born aiming for rock bottom, least of all Black children. Children by definition are reliant on the people charged with their care, when they don’t have that, how exactly should they aim for the stars? I was born in abject poverty. I dreamt big, but had it not been for the love of my adoptive parents I would not have made it out the circumstances I was born into. Like most rich Republicans, you’d like to blame the least able to defend themselves to puff yourselves up.

While these suggestions have worked well for many, technology isn’t really the core answer – getting the right information is. And context is everything, which differs dramatically between poor and not-poor environments — using technology means having technology at home or school; applying to the best schools possible requires having application fees; success with a guidance counselor is limited to having guidance counselors at your school. Placing the burden of overcoming environment on the young adult is to not understand that environment. I went to a disadvantaged city high school. Expecting green and stressed teenagers to rise above that is a tall order, and I came from an education-oriented family. What eventually helped me was found outside of my environment … seeking role models (people in my community, in the news, in books), and talking to people in professions of interest. We have to find better ways of exposing youngsters to life’s rewarding possibilities … rather than expecting them to figure their way out of the darkness with a computer.

My mama taught me, if you do not have anything nice to say then say Bless You. So, Mr. Marks, Bless You. But I will say this, in theory you suggestions would probably work. However when a child’s basic needs are not met, you know, things like food, shelter, water, compassion, a child will most likely not care about what their grades are. They would be more concerned about where their next meal will come from or where they are going to sleep that night. I have a couple of questions for you Mr. Gene, how do suggest a child do the things you suggest when the school district they are enrolled in has lost its accreditation and has no funding do to the loss of accreditation? How do you suggest a child do the things you suggest when they are homeless and living in a car or in an abandoned building and there is no internet access or library because it was shut down due to the violence in the neighborhood. How do you suggest a child do the things you suggest when they are so hungry the child will eat dirt just to take the edge off the hunger pains? Have you ever been so hungry you would eat the garbage off the side of the road? Have you ever stepped foot in an inner city school? How can you suggest these children just take initiative when they don’t even know where to start because they are not from the realm of “hard work pays off”? The realm these children are in, is the realm of survival. Let me ask you this Gene, have you ever had to live in the realm of survival and I am guessing you haven’t, so how do you think you can “suggest” anything regarding these children?

This whole article would surprise me, but being from a white family in the racist south I hear this facade of racism all the time. Just because you don’t outwardly say “them jungle bunnies need to do better.” doesn’t mean we can’t hear it when you type it.

“While these suggestions have worked for many, technology isn’t really the core answer – getting the right information is. And context is everything, which differs dramatically between poor and not-poor environments — using technology means having technology at home or school; applying to the best schools possible requires having money for the application fees; success with a guidance counselor is limited to having good guidance counselors at your school, if any. I went to a disadvantaged city high school. Expecting any teenager to rise above those circumstances is a tall order, given the nature of the unformed teenage mind coupled with obstacles all around. What eventually helped me was found outside of my environment … seeking role models (people in my community, in the news, in books), and talking to people in professions of interest. Society has to find better ways of exposing youngsters to life’s rewarding possibilities … rather than expecting them to figure their way out of the darkness. It’s up to infromed adults in the room to shed light. A computer is only as good as the person using it, and that’s where the argument about technology as a route to success actually fails.